FL House Council Passes 24 Hour Waiting Period

TALLAHASSEE — Women who want an abortion in Florida would be forced to wait at least 24 hours before a physician could perform the procedure, under a provision approved by a House council Tuesday.

The provision, tacked onto a bill intended to tighten parental notification requirements for minors seeking abortions, would require a 24-hour waiting period between the time a woman discusses the procedure with her doctor and the time it's performed. It would not apply to women with medical emergencies.

The waiting period drew fire Tuesday from women's advocacy groups such as Planned Parenthood, which said it is "uncalled for" and has no place in a bill about parental notification.

"These women have thought through their decision before they walk through the clinic doors," said Staci Fox, who represented the Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates at Tuesday's council meeting. "It's inappropriate and uncalled for."

Rep. Anthony Traviesa, R-Tampa, who sponsored the bill (HB 1497), said he's been visited by women in his legislative district who say delay is needed to give them time to "digest" information about alternatives.

Traviesa said many of the women he's spoken with are going into the clinics under "very stressful" situations, and that he's heard from women whose boyfriends told them "not to come out" of the clinic until the procedure was complete.

"That is not an environment or a situation conducive to a health decision for a woman," Traviesa said. "This would prevent that from being able to occur."

But critics say the requirement could have life-threatening consequences, by creating "a barrier to earlier, therefore safer, abortion care." And women in rural areas would be forced to take time off from work and travel lengthy distances several times before the procedure could be performed.

"Mandatory delays impose additional burdens for a woman, especially if she lives in a rural area and has to travel a significant distance to reach a health-care provider," Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America said in statement Tuesday. "Politicians should not interfere in personal, private medical decisions that are between a woman and her doctor."

Twenty-one other states, including Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama, already require a 24-hour waiting period. Three other states have approved other, shorter wait times, according to NARAL's Web site.

In Florida, women receive three to four hours of counseling before receiving an abortion, Fox said.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2004 authorizing the legislature to require parental notification for girls younger than 18. The law allows judges to waive the notification.

Under the bill approved Tuesday, courts would be required to appoint a guardian ad litem for girls seeking a waiver. Before grating a waiver, judges would also be required to consider whether the girl is mature enough to make a decision about an abortion; whether she is well-informed; her ability to explain the "medical consequences of terminating her pregnancy;" her age; intelligence; and emotional development. Judges would also have to consider whether anyone else influenced the girl's decision.